Pacific Union College Students and Faculty Send Messages to “In God’s Image” Conference

For many years, students, faculty, and staff at Pacific Union College have gathered bi-weekly to provide support, friendship, and education around human relationships — sexual and spiritual. Called GASP (Gay and Straight People), it is not officially recognized by the college and thus is not allowed to publicly advertise meetings or use campus resources, yet dozens come regularly and hundreds have called it a spiritual home. Notified of the “In God’s Image” conference happening in South Africa, which excludes too many Seventh-day Adventists from its official conversation, GASP teamed up with the long-time PUC chapter of Amnesty International to share a message of human rights and inclusion with the conference attendees.

On a day of action in early March, they gathered over 200 signatures calling for the Adventist Church to condemn the human rights abuses of the anti-homosexuality law in Uganda and also create three books consisting of several hundred hand-prints in the colors of the South African flag — a visual representation of their belief in love, diversity, and equality.

Click here to see the beautiful hands and messages of PUC community members.